Conf  Pam  ffb/u 

D'=nDb7flED  + 


MEM-ORl  AL 


TO  LEGISLATURE  OF  VIRGINIA. 


ISSUED    JiwTii:., 


Reliaious  Society  of  .  Friends, 


\y   jin-.ir. 


HALF  YEARLY  MEETING. 


HELD  AT  RICHMOND,  IOTH  M,  OlH,  1863. 


K  I  C  il  O  X  D  : 


MEMOKIAL. 


TO  THE  HONORABLE, 

THE  LEGISIfATUBE  OF  VIRGINIA  : 

Your  petitioners,  members  of  the  Religious  Society  of 
Friends,  (called  Quakers,)  desire  respectfully  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  that  portion  of  the  Governor's  Message  in  which  he 
recommends  the  repeal  of  tlie  law,  exempting  certain  Religious 
Denominations  from  military  duty  by  payment  of  a  tax. 

In  his  remarks  on  the  subject,  the  Governor,  doubtless  unin- 
tentionally, does  great  injustice  to,  at  least,  one  of  those  sects, 
The  Friends.  He  assumes  that  the  payment  of  said  tax  is  an 
acknowledgnif^nt  on  the  part  of  those  paying  it,  that  som^  aid 
is  due  from  them  to  the  Government  in  the  prosecution  of  this  ' 
war  :  on  the  contrary,  we  liave  paid  said  tax  under  protest,  it 
being  one  of  the  established  principles  of  our  Society  from  its 
rise  to  the  present  day,  that  a  Christian  has  no  right  to  take  up 
the  weapons  of  carnal  warfare  for  any  earthly  consideration  ;  yet 
we  believe  it  our  duty,  as  good  citizens,  "  To  be  in  subjection  to 
the  Powers  that  be,"  and  as  the  exemption  law  both  of  the 
Confederate  and  State  Governments  omitted  to  make  any  pro- 
vision for  distraint  where  the  tax  was  not  paid,  it  seemed  to 
present  the  subject  in  a  manner  very  similar  to  that  in  which 
our  Saviour  directed  the  tribute  money  to  be  paid — "  That  we 
offend  them  not." 

The  Disci])line  of  every  Yearly  Meeting  of  our  Society  pro- 
hibits its  members  from  taking  part  in  any  way,  in  war  ;  from 
mustering  or  paying  any  fine  imposed  for  not  mustering,  re- 
quiring its  members,  in  all  such  cases,  quietly  to  submit  to  any 
distraints  for  said  fine-,  and  pruhibiting  them  from  concealing 
their  property,  or  in  any  way  evading  said  laws. 

We  believe  that  the  Constitution  of  Virginia  does,  in  those 
clauses  which  secure  to  every  man  the  right  to  worshij)  God  ac- 
cording to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience,  afford  ground  for 
exemption  to  the  members  of  our  Society,  as  it  is  well  known 
•that  we  worship  God  not  only  as  "  Wonderful,  Counsellor,  The 
Mighty  God,  The  Everlasting  Father,"  but  also  as  "  The  Prinoe 
of  Peace."  Therefore,  a  bill  exempting  these  who  worship  him  as 
the  Prince  of  Peace,  to  wit  :  Friends  and  Uunkards,  instead  of 


Wm^  uncwnstitutiuiial,  ;is  the  Goveruor  suggests,  would,  if 
seems  to  us,  only  be  a  provision  to  carry  out  the  great  juineiple 
set  forth  in  the  Virginia  Bill  of  Rights,  section  16,  viz :  "  That 
religion,  or  the  duty  which  we  owe  to  our  Creator,  and  the  man- 
ner of  discharging  it,  can  he  directed  only  by  reason  and  convic- 
tion, not  by  force  or  violence  :  and  therefore  all  men  are  equally 
entitled  to  the  free  exercise  of  religion,  according  to  the  dic- 
tates of  conscience  ;  and  that  it  is  the  mutual  duty  of  all  to 
practice  Christian  forbearance,  love,  and  charity-  towards  each 
other  ;"  and  we  have  come  to  ask  Christian  charij\'  at  your 
hatids,  because,  while  we  judge  not  for  others,  for  ourselves  we 
bclirve,  that  by  taking  up  the  weapons  of  carnal  warfare,  evfn 
in  the  defence  of  our  dearest. rights,  or  life  itself,  we  would  en- 
danger the  welfare  of  our  immortal  souls.  That  belief  is  not 
original  with  us,  as  the  following  extracts  will  show  : 

The  Bible,  rather  than  any  human  authority,  should  be  our 
guidi-  ;  but,  since  the  early  Cliristians  learned  its  meaning  from 
the  jipostles  themselves,  or  their  immediate  successors,  we  natu- 
rally wish  to  ascertain  how  they  regarded  tlie  custom  of  war. 
Of  their  creneral  views  and  practi«e  on  this  ])oint,  there  now  re- 
mains little,  if  any  doubt ;  for  it  is  undeniable  that,  for  a  con- 
siderable period,  so  long  indeed  as  the  lamp  of  Christianity  burnt 
])ure  and  bright,  they  held  it  unlawful  to  bear  arms,  and  actually 
abstained  from  war  at  the  hazard  of  their  lives  ;  nor  was  it  till 
the  Church  became  corrupt,  that  her  members  began,  without 
remorse  or  rebuke,  to  be  soldiers.  "  It  would  be  as  easy,"  says 
a  learned  writer  of  the  seventeenth  century,  "  to  obscure  the'sun 
at  mid-day,  as  to  deny  that  the  primitive  Christians  renounced 
all  revenge  and  war." 

Justin  Martyr,  Tatian,  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  Tertullian, 
Cyprian,  Lactantius,  and  a  multitude,of  others  among  the  early 
fathers,  declared  it  unlawful  for  Christians  to  engage  in  war.  It 
'seems  to  have  been  fir  nearly  three  centuries  the  common  senti- 
ment, avowed  and  defended  by  the  great  champions  of  Chris- 
tianity. Justin  Martyr  and  Totian  spoke  of  soldiers  and 
Christians  as  distinct  character*;  and  Tatian  says  that  the 
Christians  declined  even  military  com'^ands.  , 

Clemens  of  Alexandria  calls  his  Christian  contemporaries  the 
"f  illowers  of  peace,"  and  expressly  tells  ns  "  that  the  followers 
of  peace  used  none  of  the  implements  of  war."  Lactantius 
says  expressly,  "  Ifc  can  never  be  lawful  for  a  righteous  man  to 
go  to  war."  About  the  end  of  the  second  century,  Celsus,  one 
(if  the  opponents  of  Christianity,  charged  the  Christians  with 
refusing  to  bear  arms  even  in  cases  of  necessity.  Origen,  their 
(blender,  docs  not  deny  the  fact  ;  he  admits  the  refusal,  and 
justifies  it  on  the  ground  thdt  war  is  unhnvful  for  Christians. 
Even  after  Christianity  had  sj)read  over,  almost  the  whole  known 
world,  Tertullian,  in   speaking  of  a  part  of  the  Roman  armies, 


5 
« 
including  more  than  one-tliird  of  the  sijinding  legions  of  Rome, 
distinctly  informs  us  that  ''  not  a   Christian  could  he  found 
among  them." 

All  this  is  explicit  ;  but  the  following  facts  are  still  more  de- 
cisive :  Some  oi  the  argumonis  which  ;ire  novv  hrouglit  against 
the  advocates  of  peace,  were  then  urged  against  those  early 
Christians  ;  and  these  arguments  they  examined  and  repelled. 
This  indicates  investigation,  and  manife?ts  that  their  belief  of 
the  unlawfulness  of  war  was  not  a  vague  opinion,  hastily  ad- 
mitted, and  loosely  floating  amongst  them,  but  was  the  result  of 
deliberate  examination,  and  a  consequent  firm  conviction  that 
Christ  had  forbidden  it.  The  very  same  arguments  that  are 
brought  in  defence  of  war  at  the  present  day,  were  brought 
against  Christians  sixteen  hundred  years  ago,  and  were  pronipt- 
,ly  repelled  by  them.  It  is  remarkable,  too,  that  Tertullian 
appeals  to  the  precept  from  the  Mount,  as  proving  that  the  dis- 
positions which  these  principles  inculcate  are  not  gompatible 
with  war,  and  that  the  custom,  therefore,  is  irreconcilable  with 
Christianity. 

If  it  be  possible,  a  still  stronger  evidence  of  the  primitive 
belief  is  contained  in  the  circumstan  h^,  that  some  of  the  Chris- 
tian authors  regarded  the  refusal  of  tiie  Christians  to  bear  arms, 
as  a  fulfillment  of  ancient  prophec3^  Tlie'peculiar  strength  uf 
this  evidence  consists  in  this,  that  tlie  fact  of  a  refusal  to  bear 
arms  is  .issumcd  as  notorious  and  unquestioned.  Irena^us,  who 
lived  about  the  year  180,  alfirms  that  the  prophecy  of  Isaiah, 
which  declares  that  men  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ])lough- 
shares,  and  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks,  had  been  fulfilled 
in  his  time  ;  "for  the  Christians,"  says  he,  "  have  changed  their 
swords  and  lances  into  instruments  of  jjcace,  and  they  know  not 
how  to  fight.  Justin  Martyr,  his  contemporary,  Avrites  "  that 
the  pro})hecy  is  ful tilled,  you  have  good  reason  to  believe  ;  for 
we  who  in  times  past  killed  one  another,  do  not  now  fight  with 
our  enemies."  Tertullian,  -^vho  lived  *later,  says  :  "  You  must 
confess  that  the  i)rophecy  has  been  accom])lished,  as  far  as 
the  practice  of  every  individual  is  concerned  to  whom  it  is 
applicable." 

Martin,  addressing  the  Emperor  Julian,  (A.  D.  360,)  declared 
that  it  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  figjit,  because  he  was  a  Chris- 
tian ;  and  even  so  late  as  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  Leo 
the  Pope  declared  it  to  be  "  contrary  to  the  rules  of  the  Church 
that  persons,  after  the  action  of  penance,  (persons  then  con- 
sidered to  be  j)re-eminent]y  bound  to  obey  the  law  of  Christ,) 
should  revert  to  the  warfare  of  the  world." 

Judson,  the  missionary  of  Burmali,  says  :  "  Since  war  has 
been  universally  advocated- nnd  applauded,  it  appears  to  me  that 
it  is  not  optional  with  any  to  remain  neutral  or  silent  on  this 
great  question  ;  sitice,  thus  remaining,  they  must  be  considered 


as  bciftiigiii;:;  <it  coiux', ^to  tin-  war  party.  Notwithstaiulinij:, 
therefon.',  I  ain  a  missionary,  I  liave  determiucd  to  make  what- 
ever efforts  arc  necessary  to  comi)ly  with  tlie  dictates  of  con- 
science, and  wash  ray  hands  of  the  hhxtd  tliat  is  shed  in  war.  I 
rep;ret  that  I  liave  so  long  delayed  to  enter  my. protest  against 
this  practice  l)y  some  overt  act — a  measure  which  appears,  in 
the  present  state  of  things,  the  indispensable  duty  of  every 
Christian." 

Jeremy  Taylor  says  :  "If  men  be  subjects  of  Christ's  law, 
they  can  never  go  to  war  witii  each  other."  Bishop  Watson  ex- 
claims :  "  Would  to  God  that  the  spirit  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion would  exert  its  influence  over  the  hearts  of  individuals  in 
their  public  capacity,  as  much  as  we  tfust  it  'does  over  their 
conduct  in  privati'  life  ;  then  there  would  be  no  war." 

We  might  add  testimonies  from  Cecil,  Robert  Hall,  Chalmers, 
Wesley,  and  many  nthers. 

Even  Gibbon  licars  his  sneering  testimony  to  the  pacific  scru- 
ples of  the  early  Cliristians.  He  says  :  **  The-  delence  of  our 
jiersons  and  prnjierly,  th/^'  know  nt)t  how  to  reconcile  with  the 
jKitient  doctrine  which  cnjoiiu-d  an  nnlimi'ed  forgiveness  of  past 
iiijiiiies;  nor  could  their  lyi  ma  no  ignorance  be  t'onvinced  that 
it  WHS  lawful,  on  any  occasion,  to  shed  the  blood  of  our  iellow 
ci(  atures,  by  the  sword  either  of  justice  or  of  war,  though  their 
criminal  or  hostile  attempts  should  threaten  the  peace  or  safety 
of  the  whole  community.  The  Christians  felt  and  confessed, 
tliiit  sucli  institutions  might  be  necessary  for  the  present  system 
of  the  world,  and  they  cheerfully  submitted  to  the  authority  of 
their  pagan  governors  ;  but  Avhile  they  inculcated  the  maxims 
of  passive  obedience, — submission,  a  very  diiferent  tiling, — they 
refused  to  take  any  h,ctive  part  in  the  civil  administration  or 
military  defence  of  the  empire." 

The  above  testimonies  are  all  in  accordance  with  the  prophe- 
cies of  the  Old,  and  the  prcee^jts  of  the  New  Testament. 

Isaiah  and  Malachi,  alfnost  in  the  same  words,  pro])liecy  of 
our  Saviour  :  "  He  shall  ji,nlgo  among  the  nations,  and  sliall  re- 
buke many  peo])le,  and  they  shall  beat  their  swords  into  ph  ugli- 
sliares  and  their  spears  into  pruniug-hooks  :  nation  sliall  not' 
Hit  up  sword  against  nation,  neither  shall  they  learn  war  any 
more."  David,  in  his  last  charge  to  Solomon,  says  :  "  The  woi^d 
of  the  Lord  come,  to  me  saying  thou  shalt  not  build  an  house 
unto  my  name,  because  thou  hast  shed  ranch  blood  upon  the 
earth  in  ray  sight."  ChroD.  22.  8.  Again,  in  reference  to  Christ, 
Psalms  46th  ch.  9th  v.:  "He  maketh  wars  to  cease  unto  the  end 
of  the  earth,  he  breaketh  the  bow  and  cutteth  the  spear  in  sun- 
<ler,  he  burneth  tl^e  chariot  in  tlie  iiie." 

The  advent  of  our  blessed  Saviour  to  the  earth  was  announced, 
as  Luke  declares,  2d  ch.  13-14  vs.,  '"by  a  multitude  of  the  hea- 
venly hosts,  praising  God  and  saying,  Glory,  to  God  in  tlie  high- 


est,  and' on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men;"  ;ind  He,  in  Ids 
•memorable  sermon  on  tlio  monnt,  ]\Ia*.hew  5th  ch.,  38-39th  vs., 
repealed  the  old  law,  of  an  eye  for  an  e_yS,  and  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth,  by  the  declaration,  "I  say  unto  yon  that  ye  resist  not  evil, 
but  whosoever  shall  snnte  thee  on  thy  right  cheek,  turn  to  him 
the  other  also.  Again,  verse  44th,  "Love  your  enemies,  bless 
them  that  curse  you,  do  good  to  them  that  ha1#  you,  and  i)ray 
for  them  that  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you."  And  to 
Peter  he  said,  Matthew  26.  57,  ''|)ut  up  thy  sword  into  his  place, 
for  all  they  tliat  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with  the  sword." 

For  tiie  l)a(lge  of  discipleship  which  he  has  left  us — see  John 
loth  ch.,  35th  V. — "by  this  shall  all  men  know  that  ye  arc  my 
disciples,  if  ye  have  love  one  to  another."' 

We  have  thus  endeavored,  in  meekness,  to  render  a  reason  of 
the  ]i0|)e  that  is  in  us,  and  trust  that  the  honorable  Legislature 
of  Virginia  will  n()t  in  charity,  be  behind  the  Roman  Gov^ini- 
ment,"  whii-li,  under  several  consuls,  allowed  exemption  to  the 
Jews  from  military  duty  on  account  of  their  religious  scruples, 
and  seeing  that  we  are  a  peaceable  people,  ever  desiring  to  ren- 
der unto  Cfcsar  the  things  that  are  Orosar's,  we  pray  that  we 
may  be  allowed  the  privilege,  under  the  government  of  this  no- 
ble old  Couimonwealth,  which  we  lionor  and  love,  as  loyal  and 
true  citizens  should,  to  render  unto  God  the  things  that  are 
God's,  according  to  the  convictions  of  our  consciences,  and 
therefore  pray  that  we  may  be  required  to  perform  no  mili|ary 
duty ;  for  we  consider  the  throwing  up  of  a  battery,  or  the  driv- 
ing of  an  ammunition  or  other  team,  as  mucli  an  act  of  war  as 
fighing  in  the  ranks. 

We  own  no  God  but  the  God  of  Love,  Truth,  Peace,  Mercy 
and  Judgment*,  wdiose  blessings  we  invoke,  and  whose  wisdcm 
we  iniplore  to  be  with  you  in  your  legislative  deliberations. 

Signed  on  behalf  and  by  direction  of  Virginia  Half  Years' 
Meeting  of  the  Religious  Society  of  Friends,  held  at  Richmond, 
the  5tir.lay  of  the  10th  Month,  1863. 

JOHN  B.  CRENSHAW,  Clerh. 


A  D  D  ]•  N  1)  V  yi  . 

(KG 

These  princijilcs  of  peace  :iie  also  as  safe  for  governments  aa 
tlioy  are  for  iiulividuals. 

W(*  have  asph-ndid  instant-'  of  a  Cliristian  ruler  supj)ortini^ 
the  purposes  of  p;<)vernmeiit  -without  resortin^;  to  wiu".  Tli.- 
State  of  Pennsylvania  was  established  under  the  dominion  of 
tho  ])ious  William  Penn,  and  the  government  conducted  by  liim 
and  liis  successors  for  nearly  stn^enty  years,  on  the  princi]ilcs  of 
Cluistianity  ;  ami  so  h^g:  as  the  members  of  his  religious  ^■o■' 
cieTy  had  the  manajjjement  o!"  it,  it  was  U])held  with- ait  blood- 
sIuhI,  or  any  appeal  to  arms,  alfhou<2;h  surrounded  by  barbarous 
and  uncivilized  Indians,  and  by  colonists  who  had  establislied 
themselves  three-quarters  of  a  century  before.  These  colonisls 
were  often  eng:aged  in  commotions  with  the  native  tenants  of 
the  soil,  who  were  consequently  murderously  incensed  aj2:ainst 
tlie  white  man.  J3ut  thesG'crueily-treated  aborigines  were  soon 
led  to  revere  the  name  of  Or/as,  -as  they  designated  Penn,  in 
whom  they  found  the  true  friend  and  just  law-giver. 

Wyclifte,    the    "  morning   star   of   the   Reformation,"  says : 

•What  honor  falls  to  a  knight  that  kills  many  men  .^     The 

hangman  killeth  many  more,  and  with   a  better  title.     Better 

were  it  for  men  to  be  butchers  oi'  beasts  than  butchers  of  tlieir 

own  brathren  !" 

Krasmus,  who  lived  about  irA)  years  after  Wycliffc,  wrote 
against  war  with  unrivalled  beauty  and  force.  He  says  :  "  If 
there  is  in  the  affairs  of  mortal  men  any  one  thing  which  it  is 
proper  uniformly. to  de})lore,  and  incumbent  on  every  man  by 
every  laAvful  means  to  avoid,  to  deprecate,  to  oppose,  that  one 
thing  is,  doubtless,  war.  There  is  nothing  mon^  unnaturally 
wicked,  more  productive  of  misery,  more  extensively  destruc- 
tive, more  obstinate  in  mischief,  more  unworthy  of  man,  as 
formed  by  nature,  much  more  of  man  professing  Christianity. 
Yet,  wonderful  to  relate,  war  is  undertaken,  and  cruelly,  savage- 
ly' conducted,  not  only  by  unbelievers,  but  by  (professing) 
CbrifitianR." 


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